In 2013, Det Norske Veritas (Norway) and Germanischer Lloyd (Germany), two prominent organizations in the industry, merged to form DNV GL.

[3] DNV provides services for 13,175 vessels and mobile offshore units (MOUs), amounting to 265.4 million gross tonnes, which represents a global market share of 21%.

Prior to the merger, both DNV and GL had independently acquired several companies in different sectors, such as Hélimax Energy (Canada), Garrad Hassan (UK), Windtest (Germany) and KEMA (Netherlands).

[5] DNV's history dates from 1864, when Det Norske Veritas was established in Norway to head the technical inspection and evaluation of Norwegian merchant vessels.

As of 2021, the main research programs[15] include maritime, power and renewables, oil and gas, precision medicine, digital assurance, ocean space, artificial intelligence and energy transition.